FIFA have finally admitted they have yet to perform a single ‘tampering’ test on suspicious Russian drug samples but will do so early in 2018 in a move that might yet embarrass them and World Cup 2018 hosts Russia.

Football’s global governing body became mired in the Russian doping scandal after the revelation by the Mail on Sunday that at least 34 Russian footballers, including the whole 2014 World Cup squad, were on a list of alleged beneficiaries of Russia’s state doping and cover-ups.

Those 34 names were provided to FIFA almost a year ago and were among more than 150 suspicious Russian football cases considered worthy of urgent investigation because supplementary evidence existed.

FIFA, led by president Gianni Infantino (left) will investigate suspect Russian test samples

Over the past five months FIFA have said little more than their investigations are ongoing and that tests on stored samples had come back negative.

Now they have confirmed they have yet to perform ‘forensic analysis’ of sample bottles because, until recently, there had been ‘no standard methodology to determine whether bottles containing urine for doping analysis bear marks indicating surreptitious opening’.

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This test is crucial. Simple retesting shows whether drugs are present but it is vital to know whether the bottles have been tampered with — indicative of swapping tainted urine for clean urine.

‘The World Anti-Doping Agency have informed [us] and other international federations that the forensic analysis of the stored samples by the designated expert team could only start as of mid-January 2018,’ a FIFA spokesman said.

‘WADA will decide which federation takes priority.’

FIFA added that they will continue to attempt to gain access to key Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov who, via his lawyer, has told this newspaper he has evidence of Russian football doping.

Senior sources at the WADA insist FIFA will be given all the resources it needs, including access to Rodchenkov and the ability to test for tampered samples, and that the onus was on football’s governing body to complete that process as soon as possible.

FIFA will also be given access to a newly-leaked database from the Moscow lab for the years 2011 to 2015 which can help establish whether there was widespread football doping.

FIFA say: ‘A meeting has been called by WADA on 14 December 2017 to inform several international federations about the new intelligence and how to use this in relation to Anti-Doping Rule Violations.’

This stance marks a subtle change in tone from FIFA, who until now have seemed reluctant to act quickly on allegations around Russia ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

But after the president of the Russian FA, Vitaly Mutko, was banned for life from the Olympics by the IOC last week, for his role in state doping, FIFA insiders accept that further inaction in untenable.

Russia's ongoing doping scandal has seen them banned from the 2018 winter Olympic Games

‘We know we are seen as a laughing stock,’ said one source, claiming that FIFA will deal with the issues. But FIFA will not comment publicly on whether it is appropriate that Mutko should remain in charge of organising the World Cup.

Rather they made an oblique reference to him in a statement that said: ‘When it comes to potential disciplinary or ethical matters concerning specific individuals, it will be up to the respective FIFA bodies to evaluate them.’

FIFA’s special advisor on doping matters is a scientist called Marial Saugy, who is understood to be working on their probe into Russian football doping. Saugy praised Moscow’s lab as one of the best in the world in 2015, even after their doping plot was exposed.